What do you think?
Rate this book
Frogs and the Ballet
Introduces familiar ballet steps, demonstrating what lies behind these seemingly effortless movements and how they are woven into classical ballet
80 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1900
23 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 15, 2018
"In this book by the authors of Alligators & Music, the reader will find that frogs do for the ballet what alligators are already doing for music. Alligators & Music teaches the young how the many voices of musical instruments can be put together to form the great symphonies, while at the same time the subtlety of its understanding and its illustrations delights old aficionados.
"Paralleling construction of the previous book, Frogs & the Ballet takes up the great familiar poses of the dance, showing both the young practitioner and the old balletomane how much lies behind the seemingly effortless movements on the stage before him, and how these many moments of grace may be woven into the great tapestries of the classical ballet, to become, at last, a final tableau of unforgettable beauty. Arrowood's frogs moreover -- perhaps because the development of the ballet was not originally determined by the amphibian form -- suggest, as few have ever done before, the perils that lie in the path of the dancer who would aspire to that great art.
"As music is motion perceived by the ear, so ballet is motion that engages sight and hearing simultaneously. The delicacy and discipline on the part of dancers required to achieve this miraculous duality are caught here by both author and artist with a remarkable combination of intuitive u8nderstanding and sophisticated appreciation. Their collaboration radiates a delightful quality of informed innocence.
"When it was first published, Alligators & Music found some members of the trade unprepared for its extraordinary breadth of appeal."
~~front flap
"Yet more preposterous and no less instructive than its predecessor, Alligators & Music, Frogs & the Ballet will charm all comers. Readers will close this book wondering at the marvel of ballet, at the absurd grace and pathos of Arrowood's ballerinas fresh from undergraduate tadpole days, and most of all at the boldness of his balleteers, veterans of many a jug o' rum."
~~back cover
This book is So wonderful! I suppose young readers would appreciate it, but its real target is adults -- adults who will love a book whose introduction says:
"One sees the prima donna in an opera, weighing 200 pounds, give or take a few, hiding demurely from her frantic lover who can't find her because she is concealed behind a spindly papier-mache tree. Or one sees a ballet in which a grown man dashes madly across a stage and leaps vigorously and repeatedly into the air while beating his feet together. He is dressed in a costume which should be at least mildly embarrassing to anyone in his right mind but which, incredibly, raises only a very few eyebrows. The ballerina, standing on her toes, for the love of God, minces across the stage in tiny sidewise steps and then, suddenly descending to the soles of her feet, squats with her feet pointing in diametrically opposite directions. The audience murmurs in appreciation, and one wonders uneasily just how secure one's grip on reality truly is."
More quotes from this whimsical, slyly uproarious book:
"... the second of the five positions from which all classic ballet dancing derives, is much like the first, except that the feet are separated by about twelve inches. They are still turned outward in a straight loin e, a position that might be somewhat difficult to maintain in a high wind. Fortunately, ballet is usually performed indoors, where the danger of sudden gusts is generally quite minimal."
"This position, needless to say, would present distinct problems to the ballerina if she possessed jumbo thighs or calves. Consequently, the aspiring young dancer would do well to avoid as much excessive rotundity as possible. Dancing is difficult enough. after all, without having to put up with more physical possessions than are strictly required, not that such endowments would necessarily always be inappropriate in certain situations other than ballet. It all depends, perhaps, on what one considers important."
"The remarkable pas poisson is a complex movement in which the ballerina plunges into a sort of 'fish dive', curved aro7und her partner's body and supported purely by her position relative to his and not by his hands. It is a position of virtuosity requiring great skill, and is not to be attempted by those who are still trying to get the hang of the first position."
"Paralleling construction of the previous book, Frogs & the Ballet takes up the great familiar poses of the dance, showing both the young practitioner and the old balletomane how much lies behind the seemingly effortless movements on the stage before him, and how these many moments of grace may be woven into the great tapestries of the classical ballet, to become, at last, a final tableau of unforgettable beauty. Arrowood's frogs moreover -- perhaps because the development of the ballet was not originally determined by the amphibian form -- suggest, as few have ever done before, the perils that lie in the path of the dancer who would aspire to that great art.
"As music is motion perceived by the ear, so ballet is motion that engages sight and hearing simultaneously. The delicacy and discipline on the part of dancers required to achieve this miraculous duality are caught here by both author and artist with a remarkable combination of intuitive u8nderstanding and sophisticated appreciation. Their collaboration radiates a delightful quality of informed innocence.
"When it was first published, Alligators & Music found some members of the trade unprepared for its extraordinary breadth of appeal."
~~front flap
"Yet more preposterous and no less instructive than its predecessor, Alligators & Music, Frogs & the Ballet will charm all comers. Readers will close this book wondering at the marvel of ballet, at the absurd grace and pathos of Arrowood's ballerinas fresh from undergraduate tadpole days, and most of all at the boldness of his balleteers, veterans of many a jug o' rum."
~~back cover
This book is So wonderful! I suppose young readers would appreciate it, but its real target is adults -- adults who will love a book whose introduction says:
"One sees the prima donna in an opera, weighing 200 pounds, give or take a few, hiding demurely from her frantic lover who can't find her because she is concealed behind a spindly papier-mache tree. Or one sees a ballet in which a grown man dashes madly across a stage and leaps vigorously and repeatedly into the air while beating his feet together. He is dressed in a costume which should be at least mildly embarrassing to anyone in his right mind but which, incredibly, raises only a very few eyebrows. The ballerina, standing on her toes, for the love of God, minces across the stage in tiny sidewise steps and then, suddenly descending to the soles of her feet, squats with her feet pointing in diametrically opposite directions. The audience murmurs in appreciation, and one wonders uneasily just how secure one's grip on reality truly is."
More quotes from this whimsical, slyly uproarious book:
"... the second of the five positions from which all classic ballet dancing derives, is much like the first, except that the feet are separated by about twelve inches. They are still turned outward in a straight loin e, a position that might be somewhat difficult to maintain in a high wind. Fortunately, ballet is usually performed indoors, where the danger of sudden gusts is generally quite minimal."
"This position, needless to say, would present distinct problems to the ballerina if she possessed jumbo thighs or calves. Consequently, the aspiring young dancer would do well to avoid as much excessive rotundity as possible. Dancing is difficult enough. after all, without having to put up with more physical possessions than are strictly required, not that such endowments would necessarily always be inappropriate in certain situations other than ballet. It all depends, perhaps, on what one considers important."
"The remarkable pas poisson is a complex movement in which the ballerina plunges into a sort of 'fish dive', curved aro7und her partner's body and supported purely by her position relative to his and not by his hands. It is a position of virtuosity requiring great skill, and is not to be attempted by those who are still trying to get the hang of the first position."
December 27, 2022
I found this in a used bookstore and bought it as a Christmas present for an unknown recipient. It was so delightful I just kept it. I’ll pass it along someday.
June 6, 2024
I have no idea where the idea of frogs doing ballet came from, but this little book is brilliant. No notes!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews